The Province's Wait For Me, Daddy photo makes a lasting impression

The Province's famous Wait For Me, Daddy photo, which is being commemorated in early October with a sculpture in New West, a postage stamp and $2 coin.Claude Dettloff
/ PNG Files

It’s said that history belongs to the authors, but in the case of a famous wartime photo, all the credit goes to the photographer.

Province cameraman Claude Dettloff was in New Westminster 74 years ago to capture the most celebrated photo in this paper’s history, Wait For Me, Daddy.

It has been recognized around the globe as the perfect blend of familial love, separation and angst, as a boy’s father heads to the perils of war.

The picture fulfilled the need of people everywhere to see themselves in the faces of five-year-old Whitey Bernard and parents Bernice and Jack.

As if decades of acclaim at Remembrance Day ceremonies and in picture collections isn’t enough, the celebrations kick into high gear on Saturday in New West.

The Royal Canadian Mint is dedicating three coins to the famous scene: a general circulation toonie, and commemorative issues in $3 and $10 denominations. Canada Post is producing a general circulation stamp and the city of New West, where the photo was taken, is making its own tribute.

The centrepiece is a larger-than-life bronze statue of the Bernards, Dettloff’s camera and whatever else the artists envision.

New West, which put $300,000 towards the project, is also opening an exhibit dedicated to the B.C. Regiment, Duke of Connaughts Own Rifles, at its brand new Anvil Centre museum.

In response to the honours, The Province is taking an in-depth look with a weeklong series of printed features and online extras.

We continue on Tuesday with the man who made it all possible, Dettloff. We’ll find out just how tough it was to pull off the split-second timing required when state-of-the-art cameras held just one piece of film at a time.

His granddaughter Candace Macpherson, who spent many hours puttering around his basement darkroom, shows us a selection of his amazing work, which is presented in an online and mobile app photo gallery.

On Wednesday, we’ll look at the cute and cuddly boy in the photo, Whitey, who is now a 79-year-old retiree living in Tofino.

Whitey’s good looks were the key to conveying the charm that generated mass appeal.

He calls upon his wry sense of humour to ponder the spectacle of his parents — whose marriage didn’t survive the war — being reunited in bronze for the first time since that day.

Online listeners will be able to hear the story in his own words.

On Thursday, we’ll learn about how hard-driving Coun. Lorrie Williams championed the project and drove it to a successful conclusion, despite some bumps along the way.

Her powers of persuasion were especially needed in Ottawa, where skeptical officials at the Royal Mint needed to be won over.

Online and mobile app viewers will see a behind-the-scenes video of the sculpture as it is set up by artists Veronica and Edwin Dam de Nogales.

The picture is the thing, so on Friday we will examine what secrets the photo has to tell us.

We wanted to know everything that was happening, from the train tracks in the foreground to the hay wagon in the background.

We learn about what happened subsequently to the Connaughts and their surprising humanitarian role in Europe, where the Dutch people faced starvation.

Online viewers will be able to click on the photo and discover the secrets for themselves.

A full program begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Hyack Square, Eighth and Columbia, with dignitaries and ministers.

The sculptors’ vision will finally be revealed, as well as how the Royal Mint squeezed so much imagery onto the side of a very small coin.

Those who want to pick up a Wait For Me, Daddy toonie will be able to turn in their old toonies in exchange.

Watch for full coverage of the day’s events as they happen on twitter and online at theprovince.com.

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